Beef Bourguignon

Beef Bourguignon (or Boeuf Bourguignon) is a thick, rich French beef stew made with lots of red wine, aromatics like carrots, onions and garlic and garnished with small pearl onions and mushrooms. For this version I have made a few changes to the more traditional recipe I provide below. In the recipe the stew is cooked in a large Dutch oven, but in this post, I will show you how to cook it long and slow in a multi-cooker, crock pot or instant pot. Other variations include seasoning the beef with my Rosemary Steak Rub, using dried porcini mushrooms instead of button mushrooms, eliminating Cognac and using a Tuscan Sangiovese wine instead of the French Burgundy wine made from Pinot Noir grapes.

I used about 1 cup of dried Porcini mushrooms in this recipe. Cover the mushrooms with hot water and let them soak for 15 minutes. Lift the mushrooms out of the container (there may be sand or grit that settled on the bottom) and decant the liquid, leaving the grit behind. You will want to add the mushrooms and the soaking liquid to the stew. If the mushroom pieces are large, you may want to chop them slightly. Reserve for later.

Cut the bacon into small strips, by slicing it widthwise. Place a sauté pan on the stove over medium-heat and add the bacon. Cook the bacon until it is crisp. Remove the crisp bacon with a slotted spoon (leaving as much fat in the pan as possible) to a plate lined with paper towels to drain it.

Cut the beef chuck into 1 1/2-inch pieces and place it into a bowl and season with a Tablespoon of Rosemary Steak Rub and sprinkle with the flour. Toss well to coat.

Cook the floured beef in batches, browning it evenly on all sides. Remove the browned beef to the bowl of the slow cooker.

Prepare the pearl onions by cutting off the root end. Bring a few quarts of water to a boil and blanch the onions for 3 minutes. Remove the onions from the water and cool slightly.

Pinch the top end of the onion and the outside skin should pinch right off. Reserve.

Peel and cut the carrots into 1-inch “bite-sized” pieces.

Brown the onions in the same pan, adding canola oil as necessary, stirring occasionally until they are lightly browned. Repeat with the cut carrots. Remove to the bowl with the meat.

Peel and slice the garlic and brown for 30 seconds in the sauté pan. Then add the tomato paste and cook, stirring for 30 seconds more. Add to the pot with the beef.

Add the reserved crisp bacon and thyme leaves to the pot, along with the reconstituted porcini mushrooms and the soaking liquid.

Deglaze the pan with the red wine and reduce by half, stirring to scrape up any of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the beef broth to the pot and stir the mixture until everything is evenly distributed.

Set the pot to “slow cook” on “low temperature” setting for 7 hours.

Cut the celery into 1-inch pieces and quarter (or halve, depending upon the size) the new potatoes and add both to the pot after 5 hours of cooking. This will allow the potatoes 2 hours to cook through.

On my latest Foodie trip to the Loire valley in France, we modified the recipe by leaving the potatoes out. We then served the stew over garlic-smashed potatoes, which was also very yummy!

Beef Bourguignon

Recipe by Michael SalmonCourse: EntreesCuisine: FrenchDifficulty: Medium

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking Time

hours

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds small “pearl” onions
1/4 pound thick-sliced applewood smoked bacon
4 pounds boneless beef chuck, well trimmed
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 pound carrots
6 large garlic cloves, sliced
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup Cognac
1 pound small button mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
2 Tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 bottle of dry red wine (preferably Burgundy, 750-ml)
3 cups beef broth
5 ribs of celery
8 small white potatoes
Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

Prepare the pearl onions by cutting off the root end. Bring a few quarts of water to a boil and blanch the onions for 3 minutes. Remove the onions from the water and cool slightly. Pinch the top end of the onion and the outside skin should pinch right off. Reserve.
Cut the bacon into small strips, by slicing it widthwise.
Place a large Dutch oven (at least 4-quart) on the stove over medium-heat and add the bacon. Cook the bacon until it is crisp. Remove the crisp bacon with a slotted spoon (leaving as much fat in the pan as possible) to a plate lined with paper towels to drain it.
Cut the beef chuck into 1 1/2-inch pieces and place it into a bowl with the flour. Toss well to coat.
Cook the floured beef in batches, browning it evenly on all sides. Remove the cooked beef to a large bowl.
Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.
Peel and cut the carrots into 1-inch “bite-sized” pieces and place in the hot pot along with the peeled pearl onions. Cook, stirring occasionally until they are lightly browned. Add the sliced garlic and cook for 30 seconds, add the tomato paste and cook, stirring for 30 seconds more. Remove to the bowl with the meat.
Deglaze the pan with the cognac and reduce by half, stirring to scrape up any of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
Add the beef and vegetables back to the pot along with the quartered mushrooms, fresh thyme, red wine and beef broth. Bring to a boil, cover and place in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Cut the celery into 1-inch slices and quarter the new potatoes and stir into the pot. Return to the oven for another hour, or until the beef is tender.
Remove the solids from the pan with a strainer (or pour through a colander) and reduce the liquid to about 3 cups. Add the solids back in and season with salt and pepper.